1. Am I Happy? This may seem like a simple question but I really want you to think about this: does this person make you constantly happy in their presence and even more so in their absence? This is the secret to understanding if this relationship is feeding your growth instead of starving your progress. If you find you are simply happy in their presence but uncertain in their absence this means they are not feeding your growth. This means the relationship is temporary because if it had permanent roots you should feel sustained both in and out of their presence. Also, if you find even in their presence you are not happy-that is a sure sign the relationship is not heading towards a progressive direction.

2. Am I Facing the Future or Looking At The Past? If you are looking behind at your relationship this most likely is because he/she does not treat you the same way they did at the initial stages meaning there has been a significant shift in how you both interact with one another. It is important to face this truth to be able to confront yourself and your partner on how your relationship can progress instead of regress.

3. Do I Feel Peace? Are you consistently uncertain? Are you always stressed about your partner’s actions/thoughts/words-then it is clear confusion is present not peace and where confusion resides you would not be able to communicate with one another.

4. Can I Build A Family With Him/Her? This is an important question: look at your partner-do they embody traits you would like to see reflected in your children? Do they show signs of responsibility that would make them a great father/mother? The reason you need to ask yourself this question is if you cannot see yourself having a family with them then it means the relationship already has an expiration date.

5. Do We Grow Together?

You and your partner should be able to grow through the relationship together instead of growing apart. If you find you are growing apart i.e. constantly fighting, repetitive disagreements, different perspectives on key issues then you really need to examine your emotional bank account-in other words, do they add to your state of emotional health or do they take from it?

A relationship rooted for the long haul will constantly enable you to grow emotionally but a relationship that will hurt your progress will take more than is given.

Tip: Ask yourselves these 5 questions initially-in other words do you fulfill the same needs for your partner? This will enable you to look at both sides objectively and see where you both can help one another to move forward for your best interests.